GENET-news articles on "GE salmons"

Genetically modified plants created by British scientists to contain health boosting Omega-3 have been declared a safe alternative to fish oil. A crop of camelina (false flax) has been spliced with genes to produce an oil rich in fatty acid normally only found in fish.

Center for Food Safety (CFS) cautiously welcomes California law AB 504, signed by Governor Jerry Brown, which bans commercial production of genetically engineered (GE) salmon in all state waters. However, CFS also warns that the bill contains a dangerous loophole that must be closed.

Center for Food Safety applauds the passage of a bipartisan amendment offered by Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) to the FY 2015 Agriculture Appropriations bill that would require the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered (GE) salmon. It marks the second year that the Senate Appropriations Committee has passed a GE fish labeling amendment. The bill, with the labeling language intact, will now head to the Senate floor in the coming weeks for a vote.

This is the latest frontier in the battle over genetically modified food. Atlantic salmon, altered with genetic material from a chinook salmon and an ocean pout. The result is a fish that grows to market weight twice as fast as wild salmon. "Most producers will say it takes 24-30 months to produce a market size salmon. We can do that in 18," said AquaBounty CEO Ron Stotish.

Don't expect to find genetically modified salmon — or any other engineered fish or meat — on store shelves anytime soon. The Obama administration has stalled for more than four years on deciding whether to approve a fast-growing salmon that would be the first genetically modified animal approved for human consumption.